Full face protection mandatory in B.C. Junior B hockey next season

The North Saanich Peninsula Panther team no longer wears half visors after making full face protection mandatory at the start of the season. B.C. Hockey has announced all Junior B teams in the province will follows suit next year. (Gordon Lee/Peninsula Panthers)

Karin Larsen@CBCLarsen

Karin Larsen is a former Olympian and award winning sports broadcaster covering BC teams and athletes for 25 years.

In addition, the decision affects the Fort St. John Huskies and Dawson Creek Junior Canucks who both play in Alberta's North West Junior Hockey League.

Full face cages are mandatory at all levels of minor hockey but currently junior players in B.C. are only required to wear half visors.

And while the change makes sense to many hockey watchers, the announcement is not going over well with all of the players.

Darren Naylor, head coach and general manager of the Delta Ice Hawks, says most of his team doesn't like the change because earning the right to wear a visor has always been viewed as a badge of accomplishment.

'It's a Canadiana thing'

"It's a Canadiana thing. When you play junior hockey one of the things the kids really love is wearing the visor. I know when I sign players in the off-season, the first thing they say to me is 'am I allowed to wear it now?'"

"They'd rather be able to have the choice," said Naylor. "If it came down to signing a waiver ... I'm pretty sure the players would do it."

Statistics just released from Hockey Canada show a staggering difference in the volume and cost of dental injuries between players who wear full face protection versus those who don't.

From 2010 and 2015, 370 dental injuries were reported in the half visor category with claims totalling $288,000. Over the same period of time, players who wore full face protection only reported eight dental injuries with claims of just over $7,500.

According to B.C. Hockey, requiring players to wear full face protection will save junior B teams money, reducing the cost of insurance from $35 per player per year to just $10.

Saving teeth and eyes

PJHL president Ray Stonehouse applauds the move as the next logical step in player safety and says it's not just teeth that will be saved.

Richmond Sockeyes' Trevor Townsend (left) spent 10 days in hospital after a stick came up under his visor. Ridge Meadows Flames' Quentin Magnuson (right) also suffered an eye injury from a stick. (submitted by Ray Stonehouse, PJHL)

"We've had two eye injuries within the last 60 days, and, in both cases, the stick came up underneath the visor — the closest was about an eighth of an inch away from the player's eyeball. But for the grace of God, that player didn't get his eye torn out."

"Players are bigger and faster and sticks are coming up," said Stonehouse. "Just look at former Canuck Manny Malhotra. If he was wearing full facial, he wouldn't have had his career ended."

Naylor says, despite the way his players feel, he does understand the value in making full face protection mandatory. He also believes the trend is likely to trickle up to the professional level eventually.

"I wouldn't be too shocked to one day see NHL players go with the full face visor as well," he said.

Former Vancouver Canuck Manny Malhotra suffered a serious eye injury and vision loss after being struck by a puck in March of 2011. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)